Kala chana

Botanical Name

Cicer arietinum L

Family

Fabaceae.

Synonyms

Cicer album Hort , Cicer edessanum Bornm., Cicer grossum Salisb., Cicer nigrum Hort., Cicer physodes Rchb., Cicer rotundum Alef., Cicer sativum Schkuhr, Cicer sintenisii Bornm., Ononis crotalarioides M.E.Jones.

Regional Name

English : chick pea , garbanzo bean, Hindi : chana, chane-ka-sirkah, channa, channo, chunna, cunna, Sanskrit : balabhaishajya, balabhojya, cana, canaka, canakah, chanaka, Urdu : But, chana, dalchana muqqashar, habbat-ul-khazara, Kannada : chana, channa, hasi kadale, kadale, kadale kaalu, Malayalam : katala, Marathi : chana, chane, chano, harbar, harbara, harbharaa, Persian : Nakhud, sirkahe-nakhud, sirkahenakhud, Tamil : Arenu, arimantai, arimantakam, arukkanam, canakam, canam, chunda, Telugu : chanagalu, chanakamulu

Part Used

Seeds.

Description

The plant grows to 20–50 cm high and has small, feathery leaves on either side of the stem. Chickpeas are a type of pulse, with one seedpod containing two or three peas. It has white flowers with blue, violet, or pink veins. Stems are branched, erect or spreading, sometimes shrubby much-branched, 0.2-1 m tall, glandular-pubescent, olive, dark green or bluish-green in colour. Leaves imparipinnate, glandular-pubescent with 3-8 pairs of leaflets and a top leaflet.

Phytoconstituents

It contains carbohydrates, Starch, proteins, amino acids, fixed oils, phytosterols, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, iron, phosphate, sulphate, and chloride.

Medicinal Uses

It is used to prevent constipation and promote regularity for a healthy digestive tract. It used in Blood pressure, heart disease and prevent arteriosclerosis. It is also used in the treatment of dyspepsia, constipation and snakebite. It is used in Diabetes, Bone health, Leucoderma, inflammation and also decreases tumour growth rates. It is also used in throat problems, blood disorders, bronchitis, skin diseases and liver or gall bladder related problems.

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa : Kasaya , Guna : Guru, Ruksa, Virya : Sita , Vipaka : Katu , Karma : Varnya

Ayurvedic Applications

Annadravasula, Chardi, Daha, Jvara, Kasa, Pinasa, Prameha, Sosa, Svasa, Trsna, Udara.